Forced Renovation - Wheelchair Accessible Bathroom

Hello, My name is Joe Dufresne. I may be a bit biased, but the most beautiful, sweet, loving, generous, caring, intelligent, and well-read woman that I have ever been fortunate enough to meet, my (now) fiancé Alyssa, suffered a pulmonary embolism on January 9th 2024. The resulting whirlwind has left both her and I crying, praying, and exhausted.

The whole nightmare started as a blood clot in her left calf which traveled into her lungs causing a major heart attack. Before she made it out of our house and to the local hospital she went into cardiac arrest and needed CPR. After arriving at the local hospital while trying to stabilize her for transport to a larger more capable facility she went into cardiac arrest a second time and was down for over a minute. The lack a oxygen to her brain due to her heart not pumping caused an anoxic brain injury.

January 9th, we just happened to have a large snowstorm. As a result they could not fly her in a helicopter from our local hospital to Albany Medical Center which specializes in cardiac and brain injuries due to snow and 50 mph winds. The only solution left was an ambulance, forced to drive much slower than normal, during which time Alyssa went into cardiac arrest a third time. Again, she was not so lucky, suffered "paddle burns" from the CPR, fracture ribs, and still has the visible injuries on her chest two months later.

She was immediately put on a ventilator, seventeen IVs, and then, after sixteen days, due to fear of infection, underwent a necessary tracheostomy so she could breath, with the help of machines, oxygen and moisture lines, etc.

The first seven days she did not move nor open her eyes so we had no way to know the extent of her injuries. Slowly, day by day, she became conscious are started to reveal she was "still there", her old memories, her personality, her sense of humor, etc.

Albany Medical Center confirmed that, due to the hypoxia, she suffered a bi-lateral stroke, part of which would affect her muscles / muscle control / nervous system. Her kidneys had also shutdown but have since completely recovered.

I'm happy to report she survived it all!

Alyssa made it out of the Albany Med ICU, out of the regular hospital care, and is currently undergoing physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy at Sunnyview Rehabilitation in Schenectady, NY.

She is starting to slowly speak again although her voice is still quite weak. She is slowly starting to eat again although her appetite is still quite minimal and mostly suppressed by the necessary vitamin / nutrient they pour into her stomach feeding tube every 4 hours.

She is starting to gain control over her left arm and hand (even though she is right-handed). Her right hand however is weakened because myoclonus, a condition which causes involuntary spasms in your muscles and a result of her brain injuries, literally shook her right-arm so much that the humerus drooped away from the shoulder socket while in bed. It also is taking its toll on her legs. More on that in a second. Overall she is making progress but the myoclonus causes the muscles in her entire body (literally head to toe) to tighten then release roughly every 10 to 30 seconds when it flares up, which causes her incredible pain after her meds have worn off. This is not simply a "nervous leg" condition unfortunately.

Her legs altogether are another story. Her entire legs, quads, calves, ankles, and feet are in tremendous pain daily. She cannot walk, She can barely move her toes on command but at least that is an improvement from last month. Luckily her "wiring" is intact but her legs are mostly useless despite significant therapy efforts. As a result, she will need to spend many months, possibly a year or longer, in a wheelchair which (finally) brings me to my point.

Our only house bathroom is too small. So small in fact that a wheelchair cannot even fit through the doorway. Even if Alyssa could somehow be magically pushed through the doorway there is nothing currently available in the bathroom to allow her the simple pleasure of using a bathroom for relief, to clean, etc. No hand rails, no accessible light switches, no low hanging towel racks, or useable shower due to the high tub.

I am saving my entire tax refund as well as my work bonus this year plus as much "paycheck" as I can put away towards a new wheelchair capable bathroom for Alyssa. Contractor estimates have left me with enormous quotes leaving my jaw agape forcing me to seek loans on top of the aforementioned funds.

I'm simply looking to help offset some of the demolition and construction costs since one wall will need to come out to make the door wide enough, to get the tub out, to make a wheelchair accessible shower, etc. I hate to ask for anything but I am very humbly seeking help with this project as I cannot afford it by myself and I'm not sure if Alyssa will ever be able to go back to work.

Alyssa and I will be grateful for any help whatsoever.

The YouTube video above is a simple "video Valentine" I made for her many years ago. Watching it "helps me" as I look toward a brighter future together with my baby. Please pardon the minute long video introduction. It simply explains a few things.

Sincerely,

Joe Dufresne